Consequences for Athletes
We believe and many others believe, that pro-athletes shouldn’t be treated differently than others in regards to whatever wrongs they commit. They should be held accountable for their actions.
Ryan Miller, Sean Morey, Ja Morant. These are all athletes you may know. Something that all these athletes have in common was that they were once role models to younger people and broke that leadership by breaking laws and more.
Athletes are supposed to be seen and “treated” as heroes, but not all deserve that treatment and to be quite frank that shouldn't be the reality. Athletes are normal people with just higher titles and alot of money but why does a status you have in life and money mean you should be treated different from so called normal people?
In our piece today we will be talking about two professional athletes that relate to these topics, athletes who had serious charges but got off pretty easy. Now, we wonder: is it because they were athletes or did they truly get the right consequence for these charges?
Everyone deals with consequences. In Comp Sci High when it comes to sports players, there are consequences based on their grades. On Fridays, you can see the basketball players running around like chickens without heads, trying to make sure they have no F’s before Coach Johnson checks Alma at the end of the day.
In Comp Sci High our grading policy gives sports players the motivation to get their grades up because if they dont they won't be able to participate in the sport.
Now we will be getting into the real world with the professional athletes.
We want to talk about why consequences are necessary for professional athletes. We believe and many others believe, that pro-athletes shouldn’t be treated differently than others in regards to whatever wrongs they commit. They should be held accountable for their actions.
Speaking about consequences, we all face them. A story about two athletes and their crimes is not going to automatically connect to teens around us, so we need to get deeper into it. It's just not about a crime and who's committing it; it's about the fact that you should never have the mindset that you will get away with a crime no matter your status in life, age, or any other component. We want to help people understand that.
The first athlete we want to talk about is Ja Morant from the NBA. Ja Morant is a young rising star who was suspended in the NBA for flashing a firearm on social media. By doing this he showed inappropriate and irresponsible decisions towards the media. This is about demonstrating the impact of professional athlete actions; it's not only about breaking the law, but having a negative impact towards the younger generation.
This suspension from Ja Morant teaches a lesson to all who admire him. Most professional sports, like the NBA, need to figure out a way to consistently hold athletes accountable while trusting them at the same time, since athletes are not perfect. The league's image is influenced by how they manage and trust their players. It can make the NBA look a little foolish if their players aren't being responsible and held accountable for their mistakes.
Another major example from professional sports was the prodigy Wander Franco from the Dominican Republic that was supposed to be the best prospect the MLB has ever seen. Franco was ranked #1 by MLB.com and Baseball America. Franco was able to make his debut at the age of 20, and he did not disappoint, posting a 810 OPS (hitting above league average) and posted a WRC+ of 126, meaning he was 26% above league average at the age of 20, an age when most people are still in college.
Franco had one of the brightest futures in the MLB if not the brightest and this year he was having a career year and was an All-Star. But, since August it has all gone downhill. Franco was accused of having relationships with a 14 year old in the Dominican Republic. They have been chats found, where Franco says, “I took a chance and loved it.”
The worst part is that Franco was found to have bribed the mom of the girl and the girl herself. It’s almost guaranteed that Franco will never step on an MLB field, but what is also strange is that, even after all the evidence that has been found, he’s still free. This is because he paid 40 thousand dollars to be released. His money saved him; if he was a normal person he would be in jail.
This goes to show that athletes have special advantages over the normal 9 to 5 worker, which should not be the case in a court. If anything, athletes need equal punishment because it will show people the consequences of certain actions. Also, athletes have control over all the children that idolize them and look up to them. There was a music artist who was in a similar case, Dilon Baby, who was in a relationship with a 16 year old. It shows the power of being an internationally-known athlete, as Dilon was charged with 3 months before they even looked into the case, while Franco went to court 1 time and is currently free, and only spent 1 day in jail. This is something that should not be the case. Everyone should be treated equally no matter if you're an athlete or not. But, this just goes to show the power of being a professional athlete.
To make it clear that sports are taking it seriously, the leagues must act fast and clearly when confronting individual actions. Keeping the game and the players in check is probably more important than being harsh on athletes. Consequences can provide a more effective way that doing the appropriate thing is important even when they're not on the court and field. The league has shown how serious they are about making sure that players are acting appropriately on and off the court by responding to incidents like what happened to Ja Morant and Wander Franco. As well as connecting these incidents to our community, CSH. Learning that there are consequences for professional athletes, the same way there is for everyone else.